Looking to re-install random width pine flooring (from existing 200 yr old house, 4″ to 15″) over a hot water radiant floor heating system on entire first floor of house. Subfloor is 3/4 AdvanceTech and looking at options of either Stadler Viega grooved panels or IPI grooved panels w/aluminum surface. Has anyone done this before? I’ve seen recommendations about acclimating wood/moisture to minimize movement, but this would appear less of issue with 200 yr old wood, always in house, but recently resurfaced. Will have new tongue/grooves milled in flooring.
Will this work? Any recommendations? Engineered wood or even narrow hardwood just not an option for this restoration project.
thanks,
Adam
Replies
Tried it with 6" about 10 years ago, we did get some cup, Maybe more attention should have been paid to nails and nailing pattern. The owner was understanding, we had given warning, it was our 1st experience, they sanded and refinished the floor about 4 years ago, to date no additional cupping.
Thanks for the response. Was the pine flooring new, resawn/reclaimed, old original? Any suggestions for acclimating it to house before installation?
thanks,
Adam
I used 150 year old pine that I replaned for panelling in my house. Even though it was bone dry, it has pulled and cupped and split in the winter months. (I'd tongue and grooved it too.) I'm very depressed about it as it is beautiful old wood. A floor is different from a wall application, and the flux here in Appalachia between foggy damp summer and dry winter is pretty extreme, but I'd be very reluctant to risk it with the direct exposure to the heat source.
Thanks for the message about your experience. I still want to use wide pine flooring (either replaned original or reclaimed) to keep character of old house, but I wonder if I should rethink my heating system, which was to be radiant heat on 1st floor (subfloor, grooved panels with PEX and then finish floor) and hydro air (Unico high velocity air handler on 2nd floor). I keep getting blank stares, general answers which don't respond directly to my question from radiant heating/plumbing contractors. I don't know if they haven't done it before or what, but really surprising to find so few heating contractors with experience. I wonder if situation would be improved by having radiant tubing/fins under subfloor, although I'm sure I'd lose efficiency that way.
Adam
I love radiant heat in the floors. We built a house some time ago (late 70's) with radiant heat but it had carpet or ceramic tile everywhere. I did find a website recently that is oriented toward DIY radiant heating that had the following in their FAQ section. The website is: http://www.radiantcompany.com by the way.
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Q. Will radiant heat damage my hardwood floors?
A. In years past, some companies used high temperature boilers to send 180 degree water through radiant tubing. This excessive water temperature combined with a poorly insulated structure could cause warping or checking of hardwood floors. Because floor temperatures often exceeded 85 degrees as the floor vainly attempted to match the high heat loss of a poorly insulated structure, the result was high, wasteful energy consumption and damage to the floor.
Radiant Floor Company systems are designed for low water temperatures (125 degrees) and, as a result, floor temperatures will be approximately 5 degrees warmer than room temperature. In fact, many customers have noticed that sunlight striking the floor on a bright winter day will warm the hardwood more than the radiant system.
It could also be argued that, because floor temperatures are kept more uniform during all the seasons of the year, the expansion and contraction of the hardwood is minimized and a more stable and long lasting floor is the result.
The same is true for other floor coverings as well. Whether it's Pergo, vinyl, or any type of laminated floor, the low water temperatures unique to properly designed radiant systems keep floor temperatures well within manufacturer's specifications.
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It also seems to me that overall humidity levels should be considered. We lived for 3 years in the Boston area and found that indoor winter air got very dry compared to what we were used to on the west coast. We bought a humidifier. Maybe you should consider having a few of your Unico vents on the lower level just to help with humidity. That is of course if you are planning to monitor humidity and have a humidifier as part of your Unico system.
Ours was reclaimed. Leaving any wood in the environment to be applied is good practice. Yes, I do belive radiant is a contributor to cupping, but at that wide, I would agree with the tongue and grove advice, and even then?
hey, boy am I glad I found yall! I am resawing some big old doug fir beams foor flooring over some radiant heat , and I am concerned with this exact thing. I am just begining to rip the stuff down now, and i am wondering before I mill it any more, could I build some kind of kiln room to take the majority of the moisture out, and also weather i could prime the backs of the boards so that they would have vapor barrier on both sides. i may need a response from someone who knows how wood is dried... they will have tounge and groove and a stringent nail and screw pattern across thier 10" face,
peace, softy
I assume if your ripping it out of dimensional, its already pretty dry. Let it set in the room you're applying it to equalize. I'm not so sure about back priming. 1 no experience, 2 unintended consequences. Maybe to expand and contract with the seasons it would just be better to let it breath on both side. Again, no experience.
I'm no expert but I did a lot of research a few years back - customers loved the result. The research indicated that in New England the amount of heat needed would require a floor temperature that would actually be uncomfortable to walk on (Lots of glass). The solution is to have "warm" floors, but have another heat source as well. In this case the customers wanted central AC so it was easy to add the hot air heat. It was not a inexpensive system, but it worked. I guess my point is - if you can keep the temperature of the wood floor lower you would have less problems. I didn't and I wouldn't put radiant heat under a wood floor. In the above case we used radiant heat on all of the tile floors (all of the first floor, baths on 2nd and 3rd), but not on the wood floors.
Pine floors radient heat
Adam,
It's been a dozen years, how are the floors? I just diod the same and having issues
Paul
Doubtful Adam will reply.
What issues are you having?
If you're planning on laying solid stock directly over the viega climate panels you're asking for trouble. Engineered is the way to go.